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The Duleep Trophy 2026/27 has already begun, with the quarter-final matches completed; now it's on to the semi-finals. East Zone is facing Central Zone in the first semi-final of the tournament at the CoE ground in Bengaluru. During the match, East Zone’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was the stand-in captain, with regular captain Ishan Kishan out of the ground took his first DRS call.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been named as the vice-captain of the East Zone side. He has been an amazing find for the future of the India National Cricket Team, having made his international debut at the age of 15. The Southpaw has not played much in the red-ball format; however, with his growing talent and skill, he has been named as deputy to Kishan.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gets first taste of DRS as a captain
The 15-year-old boy wonder has been stand-in captain as Kishan suffered a finger injury in the 19th over of the day's play. Some overs later, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi got the taste of his first captaincy review as, in the 40th over, Mukesh Kumar was bowling and Central Zone batter Aryan Juyal, who was well set, nicked one ball to the wicket-keeper.
Stand-in Captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi goes for the review with 3 seconds remaining...and gets it right 👏
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 30, 2026
DRS done right as the set Aryan Juyal (46) is dismissed ✅
The celebrations say it all 🙌#DuleepTrophy pic.twitter.com/IwBQbr8hJQ
The East Zone player appealed, and the on-field umpire was unmoved and gave it not out. Mukesh went up to his captain and urged him to take a review, as the boy wonder took the review and replays showed a clear spike on the UltraEdge as the ball passed the bat, proving that there was an edge. The on-field umpire overturned the decision, as Sooryavanshi got the first review right.
Has Vaibhav Sooryavanshi captained previously?
Aryan Juyal was dismissed for 46 runs, as Sooryavanshi celebrated with his teammates after getting his first review right as a captain, with Kumar Kushagra taking a simple catch, who has replaced Kishan as a wicket-keeper. This is a historic moment for the young boy who had the first taste of captaincy in India’s domestic format.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has done captaincy in the U-19 formats of the game but never led a senior side until Sunday. The Southpaw was selected vice-captain at the U19 ODI World Cup earlier this year and led the squad in the junior series against South Africa. He will also look to lead the team in the future and has time to learn as well.
East Zone in complete control on Day 1
The East Zone won their quarter-final match against NorthEast Zone by an innings and 210 runs. This was a statement win from Ishan Kishan’s side, and they are also dominating the semi-final against the Central Zone after they were asked to bat first by Kishan.
They are reduced to 174/5 with Rinku Singh and Harsh Dubey at the crease; the two experienced campaigners will look to pile up as many runs as possible. So far, the bowling of the East Zone side has been excellent, with two wickets each picked by Mukesh Kumar and Abhijit Sarkar, and Mohammed Shami has been tight with his line, picking one wicket.
